Staying Alive: Robot Recharging

Posted 26 Nov 2003 at 15:11 UTC by steve

Boyoon Jung and other researchers at the USC Center for Robotic and Embedded System (CRES) have been studying the problem of how to keep robots alive for extended periods when they depend on batteries that last a finite amount of time. They have released a research paper (PDF format) that describes a method of allowing robots to become self-sustaining by autonomously recharging as needed. Their idea, not suprisingly, combines a docking station for recharging with power management software that allows the robot to intelligently decided when to interrupt other tasks for recharging. Boyoon's website includes video clips of their robot docking (AVI format) and busy at its normal sentry activity (AVI format).

In other news..., posted 26 Nov 2003 at 16:01 UTC by The Swirling Brain » (Master)

Late breaking news. Robotic lab broken into when sentry robot went away for a recharging break. Burgler stole a wheel that was already invented, and a typewriter that was already invented and a charging station. Also, grant money was taken but it's not clear if it was taken by the burgler or not. Now back to our regularly scheduled program: Recharging the Days of our lives.

ARE THEY SURE OF THIS?, posted 26 Nov 2003 at 21:17 UTC by Frank McNeill » (Apprentice)

Maybe the sentry bot stole this stuff and concocted the rest as a cover story. Will there be separate laws and punishment for robot cops gone bad, and if the sentry bot is guilty, will be be charged with a crime, or recharged?

Here kitty kitty kitty!, posted 27 Nov 2003 at 02:50 UTC by WhoPhlungPoo » (Journeyer)

Nicely done project, I just hope that $20,000 + robot can tell the deference between a house cat and its docking station.

Better suggestion:, posted 27 Nov 2003 at 05:36 UTC by Frank McNeill » (Apprentice)

A large bell is activated to let mobile robots know that it's time to gather around a table and recharge themselves.

Update, posted 19 Sep 2007 at 02:16 UTC by jkkroll » (Master)

I know this article is old, but anyway the link to the article is broken. Here is a new link:

http://cres.usc.edu/pubdb_html/files_upload/237.pdf